Abbey Fob Off???? - **I WON**

rayo1973 · 6th June 2006, 13:22

Hi Folks

I am lost! I sent the prelim letter to Abbey on 12/5 and got the standard "We're sorry you are unhappy" letter. I then sent the LBA on 26/5 which deadline runs out this friday. However, yesterday i got the following letter:

"

Thank you for your letter dated 12 may which has been passed to me to investigate. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding and allow me to take this opportunity to thank you for your patience.

I am sorry we have given you cause to complain in relation to charges incurred on your abbey current account.

I have carefully considered the points you have raised, namely that you feel the charges unlawful. The fact remains however that the charges in question were prompted by payment requests against insufficient available funds. As such, they are valid and in line with our terms and conditions. Furthermore, having reviewed the history of your account, I can see this is not the first time you have incurred charges.

We do not feel that abbey’s charges are unlawful. When you opened the account with Abbey, you were provided with Terms and Conditions that detailed the charges that become applicable should you breach the terms of the account. Abbey is up front and transparent about all its banking charges as set out in the tariff of charges. Abbey’s current account is good value and our charges compare fairly with other banks. For most, people, banking is free and they do not incur charges.

I note you say you are unhappy with the charges you have incurred over the last fifteen months. If you felt at any time the charges were unfair or incorrect then the matter should have b been raised at that time. I accept that you did not set out to incur charges. Ultimately however, it is your responsibility to monitor your account and insure there are sufficient funds in your account at all times. As such and given the above, I do not feel that a waiver of charges is justified. The charges in question therefore stand.

I would also like to confirm, the recent office of fair trading announcement was in relation to credit card default charges and not overdraft default charges or to other products, such as bank accounts.

Should you be dissatisfied with the outcome of our investigation, I would like to remind you that you can refer your complaint to the financial ombudsman service. I enclose a booklet explaining how to take your complaint to the financial ombudsman service, and should you wish to do so, there is a time limit of six months from the date of this letter.

Basically, i don't know i have a case now or not? Is this just a scare tactic as this would have been received before the LBA? What do i do now?

Please help, Thanks!

Rayo1973

alanfromderby · 6th June 2006, 13:43

It is a standard letter - stick to your timetable.

StoneLaughter · 6th June 2006, 13:52

As Alan says ALL the banks send something like this out, in response to an LBA; simply to get the reaction you gave them. Go to court as planned, on the day your deadline expires.

rayo1973 · 6th June 2006, 14:00

Cheers

I thought it was a case of all done and dusted there. I suppose it scares off a lot of people. but I will stick to it and file my claim on Friday 9/6 as planned. Still a bit dubious about it, but sod it, why should they keep winning?

Rayo1973

rayo1973 · 8th June 2006, 15:20

How rubbish are the abbey??????

My LBA date runs out tomorrow, and as you can see from earlier in this thread i got the fob off letter, however, when i got home yesterday there was another copy of the "We're sorry you had to complain" letter with the dodgy photo copy. Does this actually meant that they keep no track of who writes to them, or what is going on? Is this just their ploy of trying to forget about it all?

Anyone else had this?

Also, going to be filing my claim tomorrow, and have to admit i'm a bit nervous about it. I know it's stupid, because it is my money and i am entitled to it, but i guess they make it go this far to try and put people off?

Cheers

Rayo1973

fergal71 · 8th June 2006, 15:41

dont stop keep going I was in the same boat and now filed for nearly 3k, they have got until 14th to file a defence looking forward to spending some of my money they were kindly holding for me....

rayo1973 · 8th June 2006, 15:54

Cheers Fergal

Do you get the feeling that they just can't be bothered?

Slainte!

Rayo1973

fergal71 · 8th June 2006, 15:58

I think there is 2 ways this will go.... the masses will start this reclaim and they will just capitulate and pay up immediately and make there money in other ways... or they will try eventually to win a case in court ( this would be unlikely unless OFT did a massive u turn, this would lead to a revolt so extremely unlikely) .... at last a little bit of justice, not something we seem to see very often in the UK...

rayo1973 · 8th June 2006, 16:29

Justice, now that would be nice...

I can't see the OFT making a turn around, if anything i think that they knew they were opening the flood gates on this, and it was about time ordinary people got a chance to screw the banks for a change!

This board should be renamed the abbey habit? Definately a habit i am pushing anyone with an abbey account to get.

Rayo1973

andrew1 · 8th June 2006, 17:13

Quote from rayo1973 above:

"I have carefully considered the points you have raised, namely that you feel the charges unlawful. The fact remains however that the charges in question were prompted by payment requests against insufficient available funds. As such, they are valid and in line with our terms and conditions. Furthermore, having reviewed the history of your account, I can see this is not the first time you have incurred charges."

Interesting, I have just received the same letter but it reads " I have carefully considered the points your raised, namely that you feel the charges are contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Regulations 1999 and are unlawful at common law"

The rest is the same as yours, but out of the £2000 odd they owe they also remind me of the £30 they refunded me in 2005 and the £20 in Feb this year ... how kind!

However, they go on to say should I have points I'd like to discuss I should contct them - I'm just wondering if I should phone or just send in the LBA. I'll start my own Abbey thread on my claim.

rayo1973 · 9th June 2006, 07:38

HI Andrew

I would just go ahead and send the LBA, i honestly believe that if you contact them, they will try their best to pan you off with some mediocre "good will" gesture, or make it sound more difficult to proceed against them. But if anything, the fact that people like whizzkid went through the whole process and came out with a big grin, should be testiment to the rest of us that they can and will be beaten.

Rayo1973

morsy · 9th June 2006, 08:10

I got the same letter I just sent them the LBA and completed my N1 ready to post to the county court on 19th June (the last day the LBA runs out)!

Still no Data Protection Act data!

rayo1973 · 9th June 2006, 08:15

Hi Folks

Ok it is the last day of the LBA timeframe today!!!!! Now i am getting nervous.

I am unsure as to the best weay to proceed with my claim, i have had a look at the moneyclaim website, but still don't know. Any ideas? Is there a template for how to file the claim with them?

I know it is probably silly, but i still get very aprehensive about the claim not going through, or the abbey taking it to court and giving me a complete mauling.

A very excited and nervous!

Rayo1973

Jane Austen · 9th June 2006, 08:30

Don't worry, loads of us have felt the same. There is info in the library with ideas of what to put in the claim. Bankfodder provided this as space on the online form is limited to 24 lines and so many characters. I just adapted it for my own info. If it's any reassurance my claim was "deemed to be served" on the 5th June and I haven't heard anything yet. They only have till next Friday (19th June) to acknowledge. In the light of Whizzkid and Neil P's experiences I am expecting a positive outcome.

Good Luck

rayo1973 · 9th June 2006, 08:35

Thanks for that nn

I will have a look through the library to see what i can find, and hopefully by the end of the day i will have something put together?

Cheers

Rayo1973

rayo1973 · 9th June 2006, 12:36

Hi

Just a quick one. i am starting my claim on moneyclaim (err), and want to know which address is the best one to put for the defendant section???

Thanks

Rayo1973

barracad · 9th June 2006, 13:00

I would use:

ABBEY NATIONAL PLC
ABBEY NATIONAL HOUSE
2 TRITON SQUARE REGENT'S PLACE
LONDON
NW1 3AN

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